The Family Table
The Family Table
When I set out to build the table for my family many years ago we were living on the island of Oahu and I had very limited tools and even more limited access to high quality and affordable hardwoods to accomplish what I was envisioning. To overcome these obstacles I had to get creative.
The Wood
For the wood I was at the mercy of what could be found on a small patch of land in the middle of the Pacific. I wanted a wood that could be the foundation of a life long table for my family. I was not too concerned about the table getting marked-up and showing life through use by the family. In fact, that history from use is part of the vision that I was trying to achieve. This meant that softer woods like pine could be an attractive option, if I could find some suitable pieces on our island paradise.
A few words about wood hardness:
Typical wood hardness is measured via the Janka Hardness Test (wikipedia article) . It's a test where the force required to indent a 11.28mm steel ball is indented into a piece wood is measured. The harder it is to press the ball the harder the material is.
for comparison, typical furniture hardwoods like Black Walnut and Cherry are measured at 1,010 Lpf (pounds-force) and 995 Lpf, respectively. A softwood like Douglas Fir is 660 Lpf. The range of woods goes from extremely soft bass wood at 70 Lpf to absurdly hard like Australian Buloke at 5,60 Lpf. Ultimately, this shows that a "softwood" like Douglas fir is in the ballpark of some hardwoods but is still softer and will dent easier.
As luck would have it, I found a stash of select or better quality Douglas Fir in the back of the one of the small local hardware stores on the opposite side of the island from me. This wood looked great and had been on the store shelves so long that it had developed a thick layer of dust. Which meant that is was quite dry and stable for the new family table. I was still a little dismayed at the price, though--on the mainland I could have had a walnut table for the price I paid for that Fir. But! The wood has turned out to be great for the family and especially the kids.
The Build
The Top
In the design of the table I wanted to use tried and true “real” wood joinery throughout.
The top was assembled with draw-board breadboard ends and the legs used pegged half-lap joints. These methods are strong and incorporate techniques to allow wood to move with the seasons. When the air is humid in the summer wood will expand along its grain (think of the typical width of a table) and in the dry winter months it will contract. If a piece of furniture doesn’t accommodate wood movement it will tear itself apart. Not an end I want for the table destined to become my children's!
I used the tools I had at hand to build the table. I’ve always been a proponent of buying the best tools that you can afford. To mill the wood flat I used a combination of my Porter Cable Planer and Bosch Contractor Table Saw equipped with a Freud blade and using an MDF jig .
To glue the table top together I inserted biscuits to help with alignment using a DeWalt Biscuit Joiner. The actual glue and clamps I used was Titebond III and ten large Bessy Clamps
(you can never have too many clamps!).
To cut the table top to size I used this clamping straight edge and my Skil saw.
For the breadboard ends I setup a jig with my router to cut the tongues on each end that would receive the mortice in the breadboards. I used my router again to create the mating breadboard groove and mortises. The center of the breadboards ere then glued to the table top and each blind tenon was draw bored with cherry dowels.
The Base
For the base I continued the use of traditional joinery. Using my table saw, I created half lap joints where the rails meeting the legs and the long stretcher meets the two rails.
These joints were then fixed together with glue and cherry dowels.
The Finish
The first step of finishing is, of course, sanding. I sanded the table put to 220 grit and then moved onto the staining.
The coloring for the table, Minwax cherry stain, was chosen by my lovely wife. Because Douglas Fir has a tendency to blotch when staining I used a Minwax pre-stain before applying the stain.
Finally, the tab was topped with 4 coats of Minwax Polyurethane. I also sanded with a 320 grit paper in between each of the coats.
The Results
After building this table for the family in Hawaii it has seen its fair share of abuse—school projects, suppers, holiday dinners, and a move from Hawaii to Colorado. It’s take all of it with aplomb. The top still looks great and the breadboard ends have done their job keeping it flat while allowing it to move with the seasons. Interestingly, the top has shrunk a solid 1/2 inch since moving from Hawaii—it’s much drier in Colorado!
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